NACA co-president Randy Teich called the meeting to order at 7:04PM

The minutes from the January meeting was approved. January’s treasurer’s report is attached to the minutes. Clarification question that 44 members for 2023 was confirmed by Brian.

Melinda Schiera 

Raising money for property signs and social media ads. Consider partnering with United Way.  Interested in the technology. 

Ann Teich provided update from the Feb. 6^th Safety Committee Meeting. Minutes are available. Prepared agenda for this meeting. Next meeting is March 19^th at 6:30pm. Email or text if you want to join.

Brian LaCour

Presented Shot Spotter technology.  (insert link)

Prof. Ledeczi – Community Based Gunshot Technology

Crowd-sourced detection and localization system. Shot Spotter technology is more accurate but more expensive.

Funding: National Science Foundation CIVIC Innovation Challenge opened 2 weeks ago.  If selected, prototype pilot will be free to participating homeonwners. Timing: planning phase Fall 2024, pilot phase 2025. Need to find a company to license the technology and distribute it after the initial first year. There will be financial support to APD from the funding. We have working prototypes from over the 20 years of research and work. First proposal is due early May.  Second proposal is due in February. Planning grant is 10% acceptance rate.  Pilot grant is 50% acceptance rate. Not sure how many proposals will be involved. What is needed from us to have a good proposal? Need a strong commitment from community, buy in (letter) from APD because there will be testing, government support. Private market: How effective do you think existing solutions are? From technical perspective they are effective, but cost is prohibitive. Is this a research project, do we need to involve UT? Having UT involved would make sense to assess the effectiveness of the technology.

Motion to pursue preparing a grant proposal: Melinda Schiera

Second: Ann Teich

Discussion:

Monica Guzman – I’ve been part of the City’s Neighborhood enhancement team. Need to make sure enough people in the neighborhood are aware. Concerned about unintended consequences.

Ann Teich – There is a sense of urgency. We are planning to do education. As a pilot project, we can do community sensitivity engagement. A lot of pieces to prepare the grant proposal.

Brian ?? – Seeing comments on Nextdoor about shootings. A lot of people want some help. 

?? – Happens to all people. 

John Fletcher – Is APD willing to help with testing and be involved? 140 cities have Shot Spotter, and some are considering discontinuing because police are not addressing.

Officer Rodriguez – Staffing? It depends. Sometimes we have the time to chase triangulation. Shot spot will hold for 10 to 15 minutes. Not sure what priority that would be, maybe a 2. 

Ann Teich – Table the motion until the next meeting.

Brian LaCour – This is the time to formulate a plan so that next week we can come to the next meeting with a concrete proposal.

John – NSF is a sophisticated proposal process. 

Brian LaCour – Nashville proposal failed because the police weren’t behind it. NSF likes to see projects that can scale.

?? – Reach out to an academic partner.

Motion approved by majority.

Constable Adan Ballesteros

Michael DeLeon. Civil enforcement. Shortage of APD, we help with school zone control. Help out with Cook Elementary support. More paperwork since COVID. Jurisdictional boundaries: We are the largest, 85% of our community. Programs available: Education young adults internship program. Build community partners. They want to contribute to the community. Reach out by email. Same arresting power as APD.

Chito Vela

Shot Spotter presentation was highly educational. APD responds to a lot of false alarms which take up a lot of officer time. Concerns about staff time. Resources we have today: 

• Public information campaign with regard to gunfire. I’m committed to making that happen.
• Violence intervention task force. ATX Peace, Jail To Jobs. 

What would be the response from State legislature? There is a tension between law enforcement and pro gun rights tendencies. I don’t have a strong gut reaction one way or another. This would feed into the paranoia concerns of the far right. That Austin would be making proposal would add fuel to that fire. Need to ask what have other cities been doing. Discharging a fire arm in city limits is already illegal. Technology is met with great suspicion. Being someone from that culture, it’s real “rancho”/”country” behavior.

DA Garza

(Randy: He’s here to address the issues we’re facing. Not campaigning.)

I’m sorry. We take reckless gunfire seriously. Steps we can and should be taking:

• 2021 was a spike in gun violence. Put together our first draft of a response strategy.
  • Work with law enforcement partners. Improve access to technology: NIBEN which allows them to match shell casings from a firearm to the firearm.
  • Prevention programs. Firearms are readily accessible. Public information campaign with APD, DPS for firearm responsibility. “Don’t leave it in your car” where they get stolen. Celebratory gunfire.
  • Understanding data of gun violence. Committed by 5% of the population. Understand who that population is. Problem analysis.
  • Community based programs. Credible messengers. Reduce tensions.
• Firearm Surrender Protocol. Shared sense of rules for who to remove guns from.

Will there be a report for the public to read? Will refer to colleagues at City of Austin. It’s disseminated to law enforcement because it has sensitive data. 

?? – If they do the crime need to do the time. Need a strongarm. 

?? – New to the neighborhood. Don’t know if we are to be worried about home invasion or firearms. Majority of gun violence is between people who know each other. 

Melinda – Amount of gunfire on a holiday is enough to warrant a discussion. I want to know that people are really concerned. I worried it’s not being taken seriously. What do you know about the Shot Spotter technology?

I experience what you experience during the holidays. I missed the first part of the conversation. I’m not familiar with Shot Spotter. Happy to do more research. I’m aware of organizations like ACLU who have raised civil liberty concerns.

John Fletcher

Phase 2 is more tricky, going in front of residences. Bringing more officials and contractors to the next meeting to answer questions.

Brian LaCour made a motion to adjourn at 8:45PM. Seconded by Mark. Approved unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted

Jared Noble

Secretary for the Meeting

Treasurer’s Report

As of the end of February 2024, we had $3,333.82 in the General Fund.  Our Beautification Fund investments were valued at $10,270.71, and an additional $3,562.48 is available for spending.  Membership is currently at 73.

Best regards,

Brian